Carolyn Weems, vice president of the nonprofit organization Protecting Children Foundation and Virginia Beach school board member, writes in a new Parent Connection guest column, \u201cIt is our hope that our suffering will not be in vain; that our story might shine the light into this dark place. It’s a place that we, as parents, would rather not look, but the cost of ignorance is too much to bear.\u201d<\/p>\n
By sharing her family\u2019s story, the tragic loss of her daughter Caitlyn to heroin use, Weems hopes to educate parents, students and community members and build awareness about heroin use, addiction and death. According to Weems, \u201cNo longer is the face of heroin an urban, filthy, hardened criminal. The faces of this drug are sweet girls who loved soccer, college students, moms, retired folks and neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring will join Weems and other guest panelists for a free workshop, Dead serious: The street drug that\u2019s in your medicine cabinet,<\/em> Thursday, Dec. 3, at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. From 6-7 p.m., attendees may visit resource tables and speak with representatives from a variety of community organizations. The program, including dialogue from panelists, begins at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n Registration is required for the free workshop, and seating is limited to the first 500 registrants. Click here<\/a> to register.<\/p>\n